Longer Visits to Spain and Portugal

Grand Circle Travel, one of the largest companies catering to mature travelers and a leader in European extended-stay vacations, has announced its new fall program for Live Abroad vacations in Spain and Portugal.

And if it sounds a bit early to be making fall plans, remember that the best dates and accommodations usually sell out well in advance.

Two destinations in Spain have been added: Benalmadena, a neighbor of almost- too -popular Torremolinos on the Costa del Sol, and Benidorm on the Costa Blanca.

Two weeks in Benalmadena at the Benal Beach, a first-class beach-front apartment hotel, start at $995 per person, double occupancy, including air fare from Los Angeles.

A similar stay at Benidorm’s first-class Hotel Monaco or Hotel Marina starts at $1,095, including air fare from Los Angeles. The Live Abroad vacation at Costa Blanca includes breakfast and lunch or dinner daily.

Extended vacations at the Costa del Sol’s Benalmadena, Torremolinos and Nerva do not include meals. But the accommodations include either a kitchenette or kitchen.

All Grand Circle’s Live Abroad stays feature such extras as language lessons, parties and dances, travel, lectures on local culture, cabaret nights and wine tasting.

In addition, there are many options of longer stays of up to 26 weeks, switching from one week or more at one destination to a week or more at another.

In addition to those noted above, these also include stays at either Portugal’s Algarve or Cascais. Some of these can be added for as low as $95 a week above the basic price from Los Angeles.

Sightseeing tours are also add-on options if you wish to travel to Seville, Granada, Gibraltar or even across to Morocco.

Grand Circle does not work through travel agents, but for a free brochure and more information, call toll-free (800) 248-3737. Or write to Grand Circle Travel, 347 Congress St., Boston, Mass. 02210.

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Hapag-Lloyd Tours, a European operator with 80-plus years in the business, is offering a 5% discount on most of its motor-coach tours, Danube cruises or stay-put vacations in Kitzbuhel, Austria.

The discount is good for those age 60 and older, plus a traveling companion of any age.

Motor-coach tours run from 10 to 15 days and concentrate on Germany, Austria and Switzerland, with some visiting Italy and the Netherlands. One 15-day tour includes many Eastern European countries, too.

Hapag-Lloyd’s Danube cruises include river sailings on the Rousse that travel through and stops in Austria, Bulgaria, Romania, Yugoslavia, Czechoslovakia and Hungary. A 10-day sailing, with an outside cabin and all meals, starts at $1,158 per person. Air fare is not included.

For more information, check with your travel agent or contact Hapag-Lloyd Tours, 1640 Hempstead Turnpike, East Meadow, N.Y. 11554, or call toll-free (800) 334-2724.

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CIE Tours International is offering $100 per person off its Irish Tradition tours for mature travelers age 55 and over. The two-week escorted vacations have departure dates of July 9 and Sept. 3 and normally sell through travel agents for $1,899 per person, including round-trip air from the East Coast.

The leisurely paced trips feature three three-night stops and visits to Shannon, Killarney, the Ring of Kerry, Blarney, Waterford, Kilkenny, Dublin, Donegal, Sligo, Galway and Connemara. Accommodations are in deluxe or first-class hotels, and include full Irish breakfast daily, plus 11 dinners, sightseeing, transfer, service charges and taxes.

Among the many features are a night in a Dublin theater, a guided tour of the Waterford crystal factory, a medieval castle banquet and such meet-the-people experiences as a music session at a pub, a farm visit or a cart ride around the Lakes of Killarney.

For more information, call CIE Tours at (800) 243-8687.